Would Chrono Trigger Make For A Good Movie Or Show Adaptation?

When the topic of the most legendary video games of all time comes up, Chrono Trigger rarely goes unmentioned. The classic RPG of the Super Nintendo era managed to stand the test of time despite not getting any kind of modern face-lift in the same style as Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Only a short while ago, one of the key creatives of the game, Akira Toriyama, passed away, once again bringing Chrono Trigger back to popular attention among gamers.

Going back to play the classic and surprisingly short RPG is a great way to pay tribute to Toriyama, but a look at an adaptation might be as well. Every fan has the right to get defensive about their favorite titles benign adapted due to the lackluster track record Hollywood has with video game movies, but it’s worth looking at. Is it time for a Chrono Trigger adaptation, and would that adaptation work better as a movie or a show?

What Is Chrono Trigger About?

As one of the most enduring video games of all time, many will already know that calling Chrono Trigger a fun time-traveling romp would be a massive understatement. The game sees Crono (or Chrono) waking up to attend an exciting event that’s taking hold of the land, the Millenium Fair. While he does get to have lots of fun checking out the stalls and games at the event with an energetic girl named Marle, things quickly take a turn when Crono’s inventor friend Lucca accidentally sends Marle through a time gate. Jumping into action, Crono volunteers to travel back in time to save the girl, officially kicking off a massive adventure.

Eventually, it becomes the job of Crono and all the new friends he meets to stop an apocalyptic event, the coming of Lavos. While it is an event that will occur almost a thousand years from Crono’s original time, a massive alien being is set to destroy the planet and leave humanity struggling for survival. Knowing that Crono and his crew are the only ones capable of protecting the world, they travel to the apocalyptic future, a prehistoric past, and so much more, all for a small chance to stop a seemingly unstoppable foe.

Would Chrono Trigger Work As A Series?

It is not hard at all to see how well Chrono Trigger would work as a dedicated television series or mini-series. With an hour dedicated to each major portion of the story, it wouldn’t be unrealistic to see a thrilling and worthwhile story being told in just 8-10 episodes. As is the case with pretty much any video game adaptation, an undertaking like this would be immensely expensive and would take the right creatives in order to keep the series feeling faithful to the game. A lot of liberties would need to be taken, especially since Crono is a silent protagonist, but as is likely to be proven with the upcoming Legend Of Zelda movie, it is possible to capture the feeling of a silent protagonist as they become more talkative.

The advantage that a series would give to a Chrono Trigger adaptation is that each era would be able to have a full and complete story without feeling like any key character had their story passed up. Writers would have the time to capture the absurdity and humor that comes from Crono’s criminal trial and the all-out party in 65,000,000 BC, while also taking time with the more emotional moments like Frog’s backstory and Marle’s relationship with her father. Perhaps most important of all, this format would allow for an impressively dramatic episode dealing with the death of a key character, because as the mysterious Gaspar says:

“To bring back loved ones; that’s what everyone wants.”

The only trouble here would be deciding between whether or not animation would be preferable to live-action. Many will likely take the stance that a story like Chrono Trigger only works in an animated form, but filmmaking has progressed to the point that anything is possible with enough care and money. It’s not hard to see a series working in either format, but it is important to acknowledge that an animated form would likely be easier to make overall, especially if a live-action creative intended to make use of practical effects and sets as often as possible.

Would Chrono Trigger Work As A Movie?

Unfortunately, Chrono Trigger is one of those video games that just couldn’t work in a movie form for most people. The story is sprawling, covers multiple different eras of time, and features a variety of heroes and villains, all of which need their own time to shine. It is true that the plot could be condensed to fit into a single two-hour movie, but that would also probably result in the cutting of fan-favorite characters like Ayla, Robo, and potentially even Magus. As some will point out, a major part of Chrono Trigger is the relationship between the characters, so all the smaller moments would be key for an adaptation.

It’s worth considering a potential trilogy of films for an adaptation like this, but that becomes a lot harder to see from the production side of things. Whether live-action or animated, it’s hard to see a studio these days interested in a massive risk that would see millions of dollars put into a story about a kid with a katana traveling through time to stop an alien from destroying humanity. Even if a trilogy were to occur, that would still result in even greater shrinkage of the overall story, leaving fans nervous about what wouldn’t end up making the cut. With Chrono Trigger seen as a perfect game by many, even small changes are bound to be a point of contention for people.

The Verdict:

While an adaptation of a game that was originally released back in 1995, almost thirty years ago, may not seem impossible, it certainly isn’t likely. If an adaptation was greenlit at any point, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see it produced as some kind of anime, perhaps something similar to the Castlevania series on Netflix. A show just makes more sense for everything that is required to be covered for the story to feel like a true adaptation of Chrono Trigger, and for most fans, more would be better, especially if the series turned out to be excellent.